Middle Ages DBQ

Words: 1592
Pages: 7

Called to God “To raise society to a higher level is the chief business of the Church. To overcome evil with good is the genius of Christianity” (Intro to Middle Ages). Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had a substantial role within society because of the goals and responsibilities that were achieved by the Church as a whole. After the collapse of the Roman civilization and before the Renaissance Era, a period called the Middle Ages evolved and contained three major sections: the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, and the Late Middle Ages (Intro to Middle Ages). Each stage of the Middle Ages had several conflicts that arose between the Pope and the king, debating about who should have more power over the people. Though cities were …show more content…
To start off, everything was collapsing after the fall of the Roman Empire such as laws and rights, education, trade, cities, and even order in general (Class Notes). Ever since the invasions and attacks from the Vikings, chaos started to dominate people’s lives, leaving them scared to return to ordinary life. As presented in Document 1, “the peasant has abandoned his ravaged fields to avoid the violence of anarchy”, concluding that people were so afraid of the disorder that they cowered in forests and mountains, never to return to their homes (DBQ 1 - 1). Although Charlemagne tried to revive the educational style that was used in ancient Rome, education was not participated in as much and became one of many people’s last priorities (Class Notes). In order to keep a stable government, laws and rights had to be made and followed, which could not have been done by the majority of the city because of their illiterate abilities. As government was supposed to provide control, it also worked with economy, which was not functioning properly at the time due to trade being ruined and forgotten. Granting that money was already a noticeable issue, when people started to acquire the plague, there was not enough money to invent or even purchase medications and equipment to cure infected patients (DBQ 2 - 6). As religion was growing and prospering …show more content…
Although there were many invasions throughout the city, people kept their faith in God and knew that he could protect them. Not only were these people so dedicated to God, but they also committed their whole lives to the Church and did everything in their power to ensure their eventual trip to Heaven. While Christianity was dominating the region, the Church was able to gain more power by the ultimate respect and gratefulness that was given to them. Through religious laws and a sense of community, the Church also brought Europeans together to protect their houses of worship as well as obey their God as one. Although change frequently happened, people knew that the one thing they could always count on was their spiritual background to escort them through their dilemmas. Just as Pope Pius XII stated “man is only great when he is kneeling,” humans are strongest when they commit their soul to prayer (Intro to Middle